Closures for containers



13 m 31, 1967 ROBINSON 3,313,433

CLOSURES FOR CONTAINERS Filed Dec. 17, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORJAMES ROBINSON ATTORNEYS Aprfl 11, 1967 J, ROBINSON 3,313,439

CLOSURES FOR CONTAINERS Filed Dec. 17, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 V j i 5 k 5E\ 2 y fi 28 \g so IN VENTOR JAME ROBINSON ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent 3,313,439 CLOSURES FOR CONTAINERS James Robinson, London,England, assignor to Mien and Hanbnrys Limited, London, England, aBritish company Filed Dec. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 514,590

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Dec. 22, 1964,

52,115/64 4 Claims. (Cl. 21537) This invention relates to closures forcontainers and particularly, but not exclusively, to closures forcontainers such as bottles used for administering parenteral solutions.

Parenteral solutions must be maintained in a completely sterilecondition. It is therefore necessary to keep them in containers havingclosures which provide a completely hermetic seal. The closures of suchcontainers are usually made of rubber, which is the best known sealingmaterial for producing a sterile seal, and usually have passages leadingto the interior of the container. At least two such passages arenormally provided, one being arranged to receive a delivery tube fordischarging the contents of the container with the other being arrangedto receive an air inlet tube extending almost to the bottom of thebottle. The external openings of the passages are sealed until thecontents of the container are used in order to maintain the contents ina sterile condition. Various seals have been employed in the past. Forexample, the outer surface of a rubber closure has been covered by aflexible rubber sealing disc or the passages may be closed by removableplugs or the passages may not extend through the entire closure, theremaining portion of the closure being penetrable by a hollow needle of,for example, the delivery tube.

Such closures have all suffered from the disadvantage that the contentsof the containers may become contaminated with particulate, colloidal orsoluble extractial material from the rubber closure during sterilisationand when maintained over long periods of time after sterilisation.Various attempts have been made to overcome this difiiculty. Forexample, it has been proposed to cover the surface of the closure incontact with the contents of the bottle with lacquer or to modify thesurface by treatment with halogen. Such a modified surface can, ifdesired, be coated with nylon. None of these proposals is entirelysatisfactory since the barriers between the closure and the solution arenot completely impervious or the barriers are time-consuming and costlyto apply.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a closure forparenteral solution bottles which does not suffer from thesedisadvantages, but retains the high etficiency 0f the sealing propertiesof rubber.

Accordingly the present invention provides a closure for a containercomprising, a stopper made of resilient material adapted to be tightlyseated in the neck of the container and having at least one passageextending completely through the closure in the axial direction thereofand a protective cap of inert material fitted on the internal surface ofthe stopper so as to prevent the stopper coming into contact with thecontents of the container, the said cap having a pierceable protuberancefitted in, and closing, the passage or each passage.

The stopper is preferably of rubber. The protective cap is preferably ofa thermoplastic material which is resistant to sterilizationtemperatures; examples of suitable materials are polypropylene or highdensity polyethylene. The cap may be a moulding and may be fitted on theinternal surface of the stopper before the latter is inserted in theneck of the container.

It is important that the cap is firmly secured to the stopper especiallyif the container is under vacuum as the cap will then tend to be forcedinto the container. The

protuberance, or each of them, grips the sidewalls of the passage andprovide a good seal between the cap and the stopper. The protuberance oreach of them may be enlanged at the outer end and the enlarged portionmay fit tightly into a corresponding recess in a passage. When thepressure outside the container is greater than that inside, the enlargedportion of a protuberance is forced against the walls of the recessthereby efiecti-vely sealing the passageways. The pressure created whenthe closure is compressed by insertion into the neck of the containeralso forces the cap firmly on to the stopper and the effect of thesterilisation temperature on the thermoplastic material of the capproduces intimate contact, and possibly some bonding together, of thecap and the stopper.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the upper surface of the closure,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the closure of line AA,

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 but on line BB,

FIG. 4 is sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 howing the closurefitted in the neck of the container,

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but of a modified closure, and

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of the same closure taken on line C-C.

FIGURES 1 to 4 of the drawings illustrate a closure comprising a rubberstopper 1 having a flange 2 which fits over the rim of the neck of abottle 3 and a spigot portion 4 which fits inside the neck. The stopper1 has two passages 5 and 6 extending through the stopper in the axialdirection thereof towards the interior of the neck. The passage 5 isintended to receive and grip a delivery tube when the bottle is to beemptied and the passage 6 is arranged to receive at its inner end anair-inlet tube 7 which extends almost to the bottom of the bottle 3. Thepassages 5 and 6 have enlarged recesses 8 and 9 respectively.

The stopper has a portion 10 of reduced thickness provided by blindpassages 11 and 12. A hollow needle for the introduction of additionalmedicament may be inserted into the bottle through the reduced portion10.

A cap 13 is fitted to the inner surface of the stopper 1. This cap 13 ismade of, for example, polypropylene or high density polyethylene. Thecap 13 has a wall or skirt 14 which covers most of the walls of thespigot 4, a small region 15 of the spigot wall near the rim of the neckbeing not covered so as to provide a good seal with the portion of theneck in'contact with it.

The skirt 14 may have a circular beading around its outermost edge andthis beading may fit into a complementary groove in the stopper. Thisalso helps to secure the cap 13 to the stopper 1.

The cap 13 has protuberances 16, 17 and 18 which enter and closepassageways 5, 6 and 12 respectively and extend to a positionintermediate the ends of the passageways. The protuberances 16 and 17have enlarged portions 19 and 20 which engage with the recesses 8 and 9of passageways 5 and 6.

The external surface of the closure may have a dustcover such as a thinrubber diaphragm held in place by a tear-01f cap made of, for example,aluminium.

When it is desired to administer the contents of the bottle, thetear-off cap and the dust-cover are removed to expose the ends of theenlarged portions, 19 and 20, of the protuberances, 16 and 17, in thepassages 5 and 6. If the delivery tube has a plastic needle this may bepushed through the portion 19 while a plastic or metal air-inlet needlemay be similarly inserted through the protuberance 17 into the air-inlettube 7. If the delivery tube is made of glass the protuberances 16 and17 are pierced with, for example, a hollow needle and the delivery tubeis then inserted in the broken protuberance 16. The hollow needle usedfor piercing the protuberances may, if desired be left in the air-inlethole 6.

FIGURES 5 and 6 illustrate a modified closure which is used in the sameway as that of FIGURES 1 to 4 and includes a rubber stopper 21 basicallythe same as the stopper 1. Extending through this stopper, are passages22, 23 and 24, each of these passages having reduced outer portions ofwhich only the portions 25 and 26 of the passages 22 and 23 are visiblein the drawings. A cap 27 of polypropylene has a skirt 28 fitting on theoutside of the stopper 21 and protuberances 29, 30 and 31 tightlyfitting in the passages 22, 23 and 24 respectively. These protuberancesdiffer from the corresponding ones (16, 17 and 18) of the embodiment ofFIGURES 1 to 4 in that they do' not have enlarged portions. Theprotuberance 30 is of larger diameter than the others and has a closureend surface 32 which is concave or dished towards the interior of theprotuberance. This assists in ensuring that a needle pushed through thisend will pierce the centre of the end surface.

If desired, the protuberances of both embodiments can be of such alength that they will, when the closure is fitted in the neck of abottle, extend above the level of the rim of the neck. This willincrease the area of the cap gripped by the rubber of the stopper whenthe rubber is compressed by the insertion of the stopper into a bottleneck.

A tight grip between the cap and the stopper can also be assisted byproviding the protuberances with one or more annular beads.

What is claimed is:

1. A closure for a container which closure comprises a stopper made ofresilient material so that it can be tightly seated in a neck of saidcontainer and having a passage extending completely through the closurein the axial direction thereof; and a protective cap of inert materialfitted on the internal surface of said stopper so as to prevent saidstopper coming into contact with the contents of the container, said caphaving a pierceable protuberance fitted in, and closing, said passage.

2. In a neck of a container for liquids, a closure comprising a rubberstopper which is tightly seated in said neck and has a plurality ofpassages extending completely therethrough in the axial directionthereof; and a protective cap of an inert material fitted to theinternal surface of said stopper so as to prevent said stopper cominginto contact with the contents of said container, said cap having aplurality of pierceable protuberances each of which is fitted in, andcloses, one of said passages.

3. A bottle closure comprising a stopper of resilient material with aspigot adapted to fit in a bottle neck and a flange adapted to fit overthe rim of said neck, said stopper having a plurality of passagestherethrough; and a cap of inert material with a skirt extending overpart of the surface of said spigot and a plurality of pierceableprotuberances each of which fits in, and closes, one of said passages,each of said protuberances extending to a position intermediate the endsof the passage in which his located.

4. In a container having a neck, a closure comprising a resilientstopper with a spigot fitted in said neck and a flange fitted on the rimof said neck, said stopper havinga plurality of passages extendingtherethrough to provide access to the interior of said container; and acap of inert material with a skirt extending over part of the surface ofsaid spigot and a plurality of pierceable protuberances each of whichfits in and closes one of said passages, said protuberances havingannular bulges intermediate their ends.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1937 Baxter.5/1956 Hartop et al. 215-4

1. A CLOSURE FOR A CONTAINER WHICH CLOSURE COMPRISES A STOPPER MADE OFRESILIENT MATERIAL SO THAT IT CAN BE TIGHTLY SEATED IN A NECK OF SAIDCONTAINER AND HAVING A PASSAGE EXTENDING COMPLETELY THROUGH THE CLOSUREIN THE AXIAL DIRECTION THEREOF; AND A PROTECTIVE CAP OF INERT MATERIALFITTED ON THE INTERNAL SURFACE OF SAID STOPPER SO AS TO PREVENT SAIDSTOPPER COMING INTO CONTACT WITH THE CONTENTS OF THE CONTAINER, SAID CAPHAVING A PIERCEABLE PROTUBERANCE FITTED IN, AND CLOSING, SAID PASSAGE.